Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 697. (Read 915341 times)

Both Lakers and Heat take that advantage to win the game, for sure whoever in that position will take that and will not let
that opportunity to pass.

It's exciting since visiting teams win over the home team a good sign that we may see more games in between those teams.

Will add more entertainment for the fans if by chance each series will extend to the final do-or-die game.

I just heard today during the Nuggets versus Timberwolves game that "Nikola Jokic may not receive the MVP but he will still be an MVP caliber."
What does that mean? Does the commentator ever thought about how it could affect the voting system just because of what he said?
Why don't they say that to Embiid too? He is the one on the second spot and his team is on the 3rd seed during the season while the Denver Nuggets are the cherry of the Western Conference.
It looks like they don't want the Joker to be aligned with the likes of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson even though it's obvious he plays like them. It's not every day a basketball genius will be born, it's just right to give him the proper awards.

The first game of the playoffs in round one, and the Lakers had a very good game. The second half of the game, I mean the last 2 quarters were actually very great for the Lakers. They had performed really well. I can also say that the Lakers performed as a team. Different players had very important contributions to the team in this game for the Lakers.

It is a night of upset apparently. Most of the underdogs won their game tonight except for the Timberwolves. Two because of injured star players (Morant and Giannis) and one because of pure hassle. Hopefully, Giannis and Ja will be back to their respective series on game 2.


If you did not watch the game and just based everything on stats, then you will say that WB is playing badly. Those intangibles that WB is doing cannot be recorded on stat sheets, unfortunately.

Yes, but as you have said, both team doesn't have their superstars in Giannis and Ja Morant. So Heat and Lakers take advantage of that. It will be a shame if the teams lost to those without their superstars in the lineup.

And with this win, it makes this first round very exciting. Also in the Suns vs Clippers we still have WB vs Durant and then maybe him and Booker as well as too are both trash talkers. It's just 1 game though, a lot can still happen, at least there will be no sweep in their series.

Yes, even if the Los Angeles Lakers had a much easier way in the fourth quarter because of Ja Morant's hand injury, we can't discredit Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura's presence in the court because they were a vital key and the main reasons why the Lakers owned the 1st game vs the Memphis Grizzlies. Well, AD and LeBron was good as expected but the key players was the highlight in this game.

That makes 3 upsets, Lakers defeated Grizzlies, Heat defeating the Bucks, and there are the Clippers who defeated the Suns as well.

That's why we love the NBA, everything can happen at any given time.

Now ( with 1 game still running ) 4 of 7 underdogs stole home court advantage, and GSW were certainly close to do the same. Yet everybody knows GSW aren't really a dog in this matchup .

Curious to see how the losing teams will respond in game 2. If you lose the first at home the pressure is definitely there, lose the next one and your chances to go to the second round lower dramatically.

Needless to say that often enough we have seen the home team lose game one and then win the series 4:1 .

Just checked some statistics and found this:

"Of all best-of-seven series in NBA playoff history through 2021, the winner of Game 1 went on to win the series 75.6% of the time (433-140)"

Though if the away team wins game one: "Teams that stole the first game of a series on the road won their series 51.3% of the time (81-77). "


Teams that started out a best-of-seven series with a 2-0 lead won the series 92.4% of the time (302-25).

The pressure will get real.

Westbrook had an awful night TBH. 9 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists with 3/19 shooting? I mean if the Clippers on that one, he might be the one who will receives criticisms again because of how awful his stats are. On the other hand, his 2 clutch free throws to extend their lead to 3, and his defensive block plus him bouncing the ball to Booker's foot to send the ball back to them is his highlights.

The battle between Leonard and Durant has been pretty solid. They've been defending each other most of the time when they're both in the court. Kawhi ended the game with 38 points while Durant got almost a triple-double 27 points, 9 rebounds, 11 assists. It's the best game I've watched so far on the 3 games that has finished because until the final minute of the game, you don't know who will win.

The Heat are the lowest in terms of points per game in the regular season with 109.5, and you allowed them to scored 130 points?

This just shows how impacting Giannis' absence is to his team. Yes they got Lopez and Portis to defend the paint, but still it will be a different outcome if Giannis just played the whole game. Unfortunately, injuries do happen, and on this game, one key player on each team got injured. Herro got an injury in his hand I think, and Giannis on his lower back. Anyway, Playoff Butler is back again, and he opened the series with 35 points, and 11 assists. Middleton, and Holiday on the other hand tried to carry their team having 33 points for Middleton, and 16 points and 16 assists for Holiday. Let's give credits to Portis as well as he scored 21 points off the bench.

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We are just at the start of the playoffs, and we already key players on different teams that's already injured.
Herro on his hand, Giannis on his back, Morant on his hand as well, and PG13 on his knee. I hope that all of them will recover soon, and no more key players will get injured (though it's inevitable).

What a round 1 in the West today. 3 Underdog teams WON against the top teams with a huge margin, except for the Clippers who won very closely with that incredible play by WB, clutch block and a save to secure the possession and a 3 pt lead which put the Clippers into a comfortable position to win the game.
Jimmy just toast the Giannis-less Bucks together with the whole Heat squad. While the Lakers put on a team effort to take a 15-0 run late in the 4th to secure the W in game 1. Not to mention, Rui and Reaves' incredible performances. Now, the Memphis are really in trouble as Morant's status in game 2 is questionable. IMO, if they lose 0-2 with their homecourt, the Memphis will either get swept or absolutely gonna lose the series, there will be no coming back for them based on the performances we've seen in game 1 for the both teams.

Surprising to see both the away teams coming up with the wins tonight. Lakers beat Grizzlies on the road (what happened to Ja?, he seemed like a superstar that could score at will but has been sub par for a while now). Miami getting a W at the Bucks home. Giannis left the game early with potential injury but has now been cleared after x-ray. He should be playing game 2. Clippers are currently leading by 1 at Sun's home. Kawahi playing well. Could it be 3rd road team win of the day?

^^ Yeah, same with the Grizzlies game, it was very close until Ja Morant went out and it changes the game for them. Of course, we will give credit to the Lakers for taking the game 1 at Memphis, Hachimura can't missed on the 3 point line.

And then what can we say? Reaves is quiet the first two quarters even missing a easy shot in the first quarter which he usually make. But in the 4th he takes over the game and the Lakers fan love him.

So there are two upsets tonight, Lakers over Memphis and then the Heat taking advantage of Giannis winning this one.

A big problem for the Bucks with Giannis Antetokounmpo out for the rest of the game.
Lower back contusion. During the 1st quarter, he fell with his back hitting the floor first after a lay up.
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1647725735120113664?s=20

Miami Heat also had one of their offensive player injured. Tyler Herro. I don't think he will be back too, that finger might be broken from the way he is struggling.
Now, Miami Heat has a 14-point lead and the 4th quarter will be starting. Jimmy Butler leading the way for the Miami Heat to snatch this one win at the Bucks' home.
Playoffs. This is where we will see injuries as the game gets more intense.

It was a close game until Ja Morant injured his right hand. That is a big injury. The Grizzlies are already missing the service of their big Steve Adams and forward Brandon Clarke. And now Ja Morant is injured. They have time to heal this injury but it will surely affect his shooting. The Lakers are getting lucky with their match ups.


They need to steal at least 1 road game from the Kings if they want to emerge from the first round. It is easy to say the Warriors know what to do but these Kings are very persistent and aggressive. They are young and hungry. Let's see on game two how the Warriors will deal with them.

What a shame. I thought Memphis will come out blazing in the 4th quarter after losing the previous quarter. The Lakers are really difficult to beat when healthy, Bron and AD are well-experienced playoff players and the rest of the team can gain knowledge and confidence. They really showed efficiency although I am not calling the offensive efficiency of Memphis bad either they really need to do better defensively if they want to beat the Lakers in this series.

I am not feeling good about Ja's injury. But I am also hoping that it is not that serious although reports mentioned that he was already playing with an injury in that same hand so it might really turn worse.

I want Miami to also pull an upset although this is more difficult to achieve knowing Milwaukee's consistency over the years. So far Tyler Herro is starting hot and hopefully, it will continue in the rest of the game since I expect Adebayo to limit if offense once again as he will be more focused on Giannis.

The Lakers outscored them 30-11 in the final 8 minutes of the game, and that 15-0 run to end the game lead them to steal Game 1 on the road.

This is the first time that the Lakers got 4 players who got 20+ points in a single game since the 80's, and if you're playing that way, there's no way you can lose. Hachimura and Reaves combined for 52 points while their all-star players AD and Lebron scored 22 and 21 points.

On the other hand, Jackson Jr. lead the Grizzlies with 31 points, but that wasn't enough for the to get the win. The game was really a close one until Reaves scored 7 on the Lakers' 15 final points to secure the victory. He really is a good addition to the team, and he deserves a better contract IMO. I just hope that Morant's ok though because he got an awkward fall when he drove inside, and injured his right hand.

Game 1 between Milwaukee and Miami is starting already. Some NBA playoff games are too early for some here in our country that we need to wake up early in the morning just to watch them.

Yep, that was close. The Warriors almost defeated Kings on the road but the latter gave their fans a good entertaining match where they are the ones who will win at the end of the day, kudos for the Kings though because they didn't let their own crowd to be disappointed and have a defeat on their 1st game in the playoffs after a long dry years without participating in the post season.

Road game again for the Warriors in the Game 2, right? This should be interesting because the Warriors now know what to do or at least they've got a better understanding how the Kings are moving inside the court.

What do you mean "where everything is just volume" for the Knicks.  The knicks beat the cavs 3 out of 4 times this year.  They match up well against the cavs.  Mitchell is going to score in bunches but I can't see anyone stopping brunsen.  He plays to big for the clevland guards to stop him.  I like the Knicks in 6. 

Sixers and Celtics started great as expected. Knicks won as 5th seed team, I wouldn't call that a surprise. Kings hardly won but a win is a win.
These play-offs will be great, I can feel it.

Fans will expect them to bounce back. We witness how they played the game and they really have all the opportunities, just not for them I guess, but for sure they will find the right adjustment in game 2.

It is a must to bring a tighter defense with Sacramento's main core starters, a good stop will help them
to win, today we all see how good the productions of Sac' and it should analyze by the coaching personnel
to limit them to their next game.

It is strange that a fine has been handed out to a team in the NBA. They would have lost intentionally, so that they would be among the weakest teams in the upcoming season. And the advantage of this is that you know if one of the first can take your picks at Drafts day. Still weird really. But I have read that this rule was created to ensure that the differences between the top and the bottom of the competition can be reduced. So now you get this kind of thing, that you deliberately lose matches in order to get priority picks.